The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, China and South Africa) bands are being quite active in the Celtic punk scene. Several Brazilian bands have released new stuff and South African band The Sunday Punchers have just issued their debut album (the previous one was a B-sides and rarities compilation). However, the most active scenes are obviously the Russian and Ukranian scene and the Indonesian scene. Bands from both of them have followed a similar approach. A bunch of bands have gathered and recorded a compilation album. The Celtic punks from Russia and Ukraine have decided to record their own renditions of Dropkick Murphys material; the Celtic punks from Indonesia have had a most interesting idea and have released an album showcasing their own songwriting skills.

The “problem” with any compilation album is always the same: several songs are brilliant, some of them are good and others are fair (or even bad). Nevertheless, this is not the case. “Wind from the Foreign Land” is a well-balanced album. In fact, it has pointed out by my friend Pitxe that the album runs as if it was a one band album, not a compilation, because all of the bands share a similar sound. In other words, the Celtic Indonesian bands have their own identity and they’re proud of it.

There is another important fact apart from that. The guys who have chosen the running order of the tracks have not used marketing tricks. It would have been easier to place the well-known bands at the beginning of the album in order to catch the listener’s attention. However, they’ve decided that a couple of new bands play the first two tracks of the album, and the bands that have already released an album or EP play tracks no. 8, 12 and 14.

The totally new bands keep the top level of their better known partners. Party Time deliver a catchy song on which accordion, banjo, viola and electric guitar are played; Panglima Kumbang offer an amazing anthem with a Rancid twist, which is sung in English, featuring tin whistle and fiddle; Black Rawk Dog have also chosen the English language for their infectious song (Am I hearing some W.A. Mozart on the main theme?); Jeralex take a different approach, only acoustic guitar and mandolin, but their song about whiskey kicks ass; finally, Super Mario also join the party with their Dropkick Murphys influenced song.

A couple of bands are also new, as we recently discovered them and were featured on one of our samplers. The Barley Hops are another band with a future. They play a great song in English with tin whistle, fiddle, electric guitar and awesome chorus. Ciusquad follow a different path, they song in Indonesian, but they are quite attractive too.

We (fans and e-zines) were familiar with a bunch of bands and our expectations were very high. Fortunately, we have not been disappointed. Skarockoi song is a brilliant Flogging Molly infused number on which banjo and fiddle can be heard; Billy The Kid invest on their Indonesian pedigree and present a fantastic song in Indonesian featuring tin whistle and fiddle and an excellent electric guitar work at the end. Dirty Glass give us a preview of their upcoming mini-album, with a classic approach merging The Pogues and DKM influences; and Rain in Summer, which sing in their mother tongue, play another Celtic punk anthem with “woah” choruses and catchy tin fiddle.

The heavyweights of the Indonesian scene have also chosen their best stuff for this compilation. Charlie’s Rum and The Chaplin sing this time in Indonesian and they confirm that they are an essential band on the growth of the Indonesian scene; The Working Class Symphony have evolved from their previous work, but they are as solid as ever. And The Cloves and The Tobacco haven’t lost their King Midas golden touch.

The album artwork is a labour of love. It includes a booklet with the lyrics to all of the songs (9 in English and 5 in Indonesian), an introduction about the project and ALL the info about every single band on the album: logo, line-up and links to their twitter and facebook accounts, together with a contact e-mail.

The Indonesian scene is alive and kicking and a lot of bands have reached the age of reason. Other scenes should follow their example: passion, respect and solidarity. You know, “Together We Stand, Divided We Fall”